MANHUNTS

Contents

From time to time in the history of Police Force
operations in New Zealand, manhunts have played their part,
though fortunately such cases have been comparatively rare.
Among the earliest was that of the escapee John Joseph
Pawelka who in April 1910 brought alarm to the town of
Palmerston North. Unquestionably the most tragic case was
that of the hunt in the West Coast bush in October 1941 for a
crazed Kowhitirangi farmer who had permitted a persecution
complex in respect of his neighbours so to unhinge his mind
that, before he himself was mortally wounded, he had killed
six men and so injured a seventh that he died in hospital 17
months later. The casualties included practically the whole
resident police strength of the town of Hokitika, a sergeant
and three constables, and two Home Guardsmen. The seventh
victim was an agricultural inspector stationed at
Hokitika.

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How to cite this page: 'MANHUNTS', from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966.Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New ZealandURL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/1966/manhunts (accessed 19 Dec 2018)